Vader ANH Lightsaber - V1-V2 - Oh the confusion

spoudastis

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I got a real MPP some months ago that i wanted to turn into a Vader ANH saber and now that Roman is starting a run it has thankfully sparked a number of threads that shed new light (and theories) on Vader's ANH saber. There is an (over)abundance of information but unfortunately i find most of it confusing and often contradictory. First off, i didnt even realize there were two versions currently accepted for the ANH saber and once i became aware of this i couldnt keep track of all of the differences, so here is my attempt to pull everything i have read together in one place and get your thoughts as to if i have distilled everything correctly or not. Some of this may well be wrong so please let me know and i will update the thread.

*UPDATED

VADER ANH V1 (Chronicles & Tantive scene)


-Lever on right
-Silver bars
-8p Nail for lever armature
-Edge filed bubbles (so that the bubbles sit flush with face of clamp)
-Unknown use of circuit card

VADER ANH V2 (Interrogation scene)

-Flipped clamp with lever on the left
-Black Bars
-No bubbles
-LED circuit board (possibly blue card with red LED)

It seems to me that the saber would start in good condition the deteriorate and break over time (if there was only one) hence the V2 would be the original. Then after some tragic accident V1 was devised; the clamp had to be rebuilt swapping in silver bars, a nail to was used to fix the lever, and the clamp itself is accidentally flipped upside down. The weird part is if there was no bubble on the original (V2), only the LED circuit board, then why after fixing it did they add a bubble strip for V1? Makes no sense. My dilemma is that i want to build the chronicles version because in a way it seems more accepted but at the same time i kind of believe that the V2 with the black bars is the true original. But hey maybe this is all moot and there were really two versions being used at the same time.

Anyway let me know what you think and if the version summaries seem accurate as it would help me sleep better. Its been fun weeding through the recent threads learning all of this new information.
 
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Common theory is that there were two props. One RPF board member (I wanna say Chris Trevas?) has theorized that the V2 went on to evolve into the ESB/ROTJ Hero prop, and the V1 turned into the barrel of Fett's ESB rifle. But that's an old thread I can't locate right now.

For your breakdown I wouldn't call the V1's clamp "flipped". The lever is in the more common position (which would be facing the photographer as he attached it to his camera), albeit broken and repaired with a bent nail. The lever being on the left side of the V2 suggests the clamp is "flipped" there.

V1: "Edge filed bubbles" is a best guess based on what we know of the ESB/ROTJ Hero. Same for the circuit board. These could've gotten moved over to the V2's clamp when it became the ESB Hero, but that's just speculation.

Also the V2's clamp is lower on the body, sitting against the top of the t-tracks.

Have you seen this great pdf that SethS has compiled?
http://wannawanga.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SW_Lightsaber_Guide.1.16.17.pdf
 
@JEDIReali , thanks this is excellent information, i cant believe ive never seen this pdf before!

Question; is there a MPP version that comes with silver bars or were they aluminum bar stock added by the propmasters? I seem to have only seen black side bars on MPP's.
 
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I got a real MPP some months ago that i wanted to turn into a Vader ANH saber and now that Roman is starting a run it has thankfully sparked a number of threads that shed new light (and theories) on Vader's ANH saber. There is an (over)abundance of information but unfortunately i find most of it confusing and often contradictory. First off, i didnt even realize there were two versions currently accepted for the ANH saber and once i became aware of this i couldnt keep track of all of the differences, so here is my attempt to pull everything i have read together in one place and get your thoughts as to if i have distilled everything correctly or not. Some of this may well be wrong so please let me know and i will update the thread.

*UPDATED

VADER ANH V1 (Chronicles & Tantive scene)


-Lever on right
-Silver bars
-8p Nail for lever armature
-Edge filed bubbles (so that the bubbles sit flush with face of clamp)
-Unknown use of circuit card

VADER ANH V2 (Interrogation scene)

-Flipped clamp with lever on the left
-Black Bars
-No bubbles
-LED circuit board (possibly blue card with red LED)

It seems to me that the saber would start in good condition the deteriorate and break over time (if there was only one) hence the V2 would be the original. Then after some tragic accident V1 was devised; the clamp had to be rebuilt swapping in silver bars, a nail to was used to fix the lever, and the clamp itself is accidentally flipped upside down. The weird part is if there was no bubble on the original (V2), only the LED circuit board, then why after fixing it did they add a bubble strip for V1? Makes no sense. My dilemma is that i want to build the chronicles version because in a way it seems more accepted but at the same time i kind of believe that the V2 with the black bars is the true original. But hey maybe this is all moot and there were really two versions being used at the same time.

Anyway let me know what you think and if the version summaries seem accurate as it would help me sleep better. Its been fun weeding through the recent threads learning all of this new information.

this makes a great cheat sheet! thanks for sharing :thumbsup
 
I tried to make the guide as clear as possible, but Vader has more variants than anyone. Current info matches what you've thrown out. As for what became of them-- I personally think that most all the real-object props from ANH were restored to their original form and returned to prop houses.
 
SethS I downloaded your guide after jedi reali linked it above and it is excellent, thanks for putting together such a comprehensive guide. Also good to know that what i pieced together from multiple threads jives with the information that you have collected.
 
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